Following his remarks, Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said that Greenland was not for sale and that Mr Trump's idea of buying it is "an absurd discussion".

Advertisement

"Greenland is not Danish. Greenland is Greenlandic," she said.

Ms Frederiksen added that she hopes "that this is not something that is seriously meant".

More from Donald Trump

Mr Trump's interest in the Danish territory emerged last week when he reportedly discussed it in a private meeting with advisers.

Danish politicians poured scorn on the idea, with former prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen describing it as an "April Fool's Day joke".

However, that did not appear to put off Mr Trump.

Speaking to reporters in New Jersey, he said: "It is something we talked about. Denmark essentially owns it, we are very good allies with Denmark, we protect Denmark like we protect large portions of the world.

"The concept came up – strategically it would be interesting. We'll talk to them a little bit, it is not number one on the burner at the minute, I can tell you that.

Five reasons Trump may want to buy Greenland

"A lot of things could be done, essentially it is a large real estate deal. It's hurting Denmark very badly because they are losing almost $700m a year carrying it."

America has had an air base in Greenland for decades as part of its global network of missile radars and space surveillance.